Time To Brine The Thanksgiving Turkey!

I’ve been brining turkey for Thanksgiving each year for the past six years. It makes a delicious, tender, juicy bird. And its not difficult to do! Here are instructions and some brine recipes for you to use this year.

To brine a turkey you will need a large pot that will hold the whole bird in the brine and a space in the frig large enough to store it for a day. You can improvise if your frig isn’t big enough.

Here are two ideas for containing the turkey while it brines:

1) I have used a large wash pan of ice and placed another bucket full of turkey and brine in it.

2) For the last three years I have used a large, new GLAD trash bag to put the bird and brine in (GLAD brand bags contain no pesticides or anti-mold chemicals). First I place a large clean trash bag in a large cooler. I put the defrosted turkey in the bag along with the brine liquid. Next I fill the cooler with ice all around the outside of the bag. When the ice melts, I take the cooler to the back steps and let it drain, then fill it up with ice again. You want to make sure the bird stays at or below 40*F. You can also use Ziplock brand Big Bags or a Reynold’s Wrap Bake-In Bag.

You’ll want to keep the turkey in the brine for at least 24 hours so plan to defrost your turkey ahead of time. It takes about 3-4 days to defrost a frozen turkey. I usually keep it in the brine for 48 hours instead of 24. That means I start a frozen turkey defrosting on Friday. By Monday the turkey is defrosted and I brine it until Wednesday.

I roast my turkey on Wednesday evening, cut it up and place it in a pan with extra broth. I seal the pan well and refrigerate it til Thursday. On Thursday while I’m baking other foods, I heat up the turkey meat.

Brining is simply soaking the turkey in a salt solution that has spices and flavors added to it. Brining a turkey imparts delicious flavor and moisture to the meat, it’s the best way to roast a turkey I think. More than that though, if the turkey gets left in the oven for an extra 10-15 minutes, the brining keeps it moist and flavorful. You can leave a turkey in the brine for up to 2 days, but usually just 24 hours will be sufficient to lend those delicious flavors to the meat.

I’ll walk you through brining, it’s not hard but you need to think about what your family likes before you start. Brines can be tailored to your taste. These are just a few brine flavors, there are hundreds out there. Check the internet for more.

The rule of thumb is: Use the basic brine and add the flavors your family likes!

First Make The Basic Brine:
Dissolve 1 cup table salt or 2 cups kosher salt in 2 gallons cold water in a large stockpot or clean bucket. Your pot or bucket must hold 6-8 gallons so that you can immerse the turkey. After you add the flavors, brine the turkey for 12-24 hours.

Now add the flavors you like to the brine you have made. Here are some suggestions:

To roast the brined turkey, it is important to rinse the turkey well and to pat it dry with a clean cloth or paper towel before roasting.

Preheat the oven to 400* F. Paint the breast portion with soft butter, add some herbs if desired. cover the breast with a foil tent. Roast the turkey at 400* for 35 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and roast the remaining time indicated on the packaging of the turkey. Uncover the breast the last 1 1/2 hours. The USDA recommends that you let the turkey breast come to 170* and the legs to 180* before removing the turkey from the oven. Remember however that the turkey will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven. Especially if you cover it with foil and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. The resting period will also allow the juices to settle in the meat, making for a better tasting turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

About Sylvia

Sylvia is the owner of the Christian HomeKeeper Network website and ministry. She and her husband Mark live in Tennessee. They are the parents of 5 children and grandparents to three so far. They have homeschooled since 1990. Sylvia is a Christian and enjoys mentoring women, writing articles for several magazines, gardening, Bible study and creating a peaceful holy home. Follow Sylvia on Google+ or check out her 21st Century HomeKeeper podcasts on the Preparedness Radio Network.

11 Responses to Time To Brine The Thanksgiving Turkey!

Several years ago you posted a similar article and my family and I thought we’d give it a try. (We are not Americans but have figured it’s good to have a special day set aside each year to remember God’s blessings… so why not Thanksgiving day? And we do love turkey… 🙂 ) We brined for the first time (onion, garlic, thyme, basil, pepper), and I still remember how delighted we were when we took our first bite… The meat was amazingly tender and full of flavor! So thank you for that – I still have that printed article among my recipes.

OH MY!! I tried this this year for the FIRST time! I just did the basic one, cause thats all my family has ever done for turkey…just salt and bake. Since they were coming to dinner, I didn’t want to try something TOTALLY new…my Dad is a bit picky. LOL Anyway, this is the first time I’ve brined a turkey, and it was the BEST turkey I’ve EVER made!! Thanks so much for this post! I’ve heard of brining, but never done it…mostly cause I didn’t really want to do extra spices and all…but since you had the basic recipe listed…I decided to go for it, and am sure GLAD I did! Now I wish I had another turkey to bake…cause I can’t get enough of the one I did! LOL

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Welcome to The Christian Homekeeper. I'm really glad you stopped by. I love the Lord and I love His Word. My goal is to offer some words of encouragement and build up your desire to know Him better and to share old fashioned information that is helpful. I've been online since 1996 with first a web site and now a blog. I enjoy hearing from you in the comments and you can find me on Facebook and Twitter as well.